What's the most unexpectedly useful item you've ever bought under $20?
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Apparently there's a collector's club for these, but none of them displayed in photos were the twisted kind, so I didn't link there.
Not a plastic swizzle stick, a bar spoon. They are stainless steel and have various ends. This is the teardrop, makes stirring ice easier. There's also a coin (flat disc on the end that op was talking about), that is used for muddling and can also be used to stir ice, and the trident used to get garnishes out of jars like cherries and olives. Source: I am a bartender
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Even though I don't regularly use it, I'm glad I have a p38 can opener on my keychain. Just in case I end up in a survival situation, it's good to have alongside a good keychain bottle opener. Obviously not as good as a leatherman, but for under $20, yeah, these two are worth it.
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I think it's home cook weird shit, now sell me something to get rid of fried food smell from clothes. I'll live with garlic and onions which smell amazing over fried oil smell that saturate you skin and leave you as a soggy French fry
wrote on last edited by [email protected] -
Even though I don't regularly use it, I'm glad I have a p38 can opener on my keychain. Just in case I end up in a survival situation, it's good to have alongside a good keychain bottle opener. Obviously not as good as a leatherman, but for under $20, yeah, these two are worth it.
Now you need to find a can in a survival situation.
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I always have metal chopsticks on me.
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I dont understand how people eat with metal or plastic chopsticks. Wood? Sure, it practically holds itself
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A good, insulated cup. I make ice coffee every morning and a good cup doesn't get condensation and keeps the coffee cold for hours (I drink slowly while I work)
got any recommedations?
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Not a plastic swizzle stick, a bar spoon. They are stainless steel and have various ends. This is the teardrop, makes stirring ice easier. There's also a coin (flat disc on the end that op was talking about), that is used for muddling and can also be used to stir ice, and the trident used to get garnishes out of jars like cherries and olives. Source: I am a bartender
wrote on last edited by [email protected]Ah, I'm no bartender but every cocktail kit I've had has referred to them interchangeably. I was thinking of the spoon style but ironically ran out of metaphorical spoons while trying to find a good example. Thanks.
edit: Added missing words.
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One way window heat shield. Reflects 85‰ of the UV back out. Sticks to the window using only water.
Noticeable difference in temperature for any sun-facing windows
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An extention cord thingy.
I got it in some cheap chinese goods place so i thik it was like 15€.
It was an impulsive purchase (i am the type to get tools impulsivly)
But for a long time it was a useless dust catcher.
After i moved there finally where oppertunities for it.
So at that point it got unexpectedly useful.For summer i reccommend buying a hand fan + a spray bottle (spray water on skin & use fan, its really nice)
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- knife sharpening steel
- squeezing bidet (made me realize how gross using toilet paper is)
- caffeine pills (extremely cheap [15€ for 180pcs. x 200mg] compared to coffee and great if you're in a hurry)
- Raspberry Pi Zero (tiny single board computer, tbh not in use anymore, but I had fun tinkering for days)
- remote controlled power outlets
- easily cleanable drinking bottle and switching to drinking tap water
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A mini pen I keep on my lanyard.
Cost me like $2.50, I thought it was too expensive for what I was getting but it works. Now when those bitches lose the pens, I can still write instead of dancing a pat-everything-pat-myself-look-for-pen-everywhere
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One way window heat shield. Reflects 85‰ of the UV back out. Sticks to the window using only water.
Noticeable difference in temperature for any sun-facing windows
wrote on last edited by [email protected]Somewhere i worked had that. (Edit: but more for privacy)
It was so funny seeing passerbys using it as a mirror.
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Not sure what you mean by this. Are you just trying to gage some reason because it's a German company? They made heating pads, heated blankets, stuff like that.
I think they're referring to Bayer, which was absolutely active during that time...
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Oh wow, there's a product out there? I've been heating the back of a spoon on the stove and applying it directly to the skin for a minute all these years. You gotta do it carefully, but it works very well!
::: spoiler Nerdage
The mechanism relies on denaturing the mosquito proteins injected with the bite. Meaning the heat causes the proteins to loosen up and deform so they no longer interact with the surrounding tissues in the same way.
:::I’ve just run a spoon under the hottest possible tap water. It’s hot enough to work and it’s not hot enough to actually burn you
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I knew I wouldn't regret starting to use user notes.
Isn’t everyone a better off Ted fan? Some people just don’t know it yet.
Actually, I just realized that I have only seen Portia de Rossi in two things and they were both fucking killer. Maybe I should watch ally mcbeal…
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Isn’t everyone a better off Ted fan? Some people just don’t know it yet.
Actually, I just realized that I have only seen Portia de Rossi in two things and they were both fucking killer. Maybe I should watch ally mcbeal…
Both excellent points!
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I dont understand how people eat with metal or plastic chopsticks. Wood? Sure, it practically holds itself
Yeah rice is impossible for me with anything but wooden chopsticks
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One of these stainless steel bars of "soap". It's for getting onion and garlic smell off your hands. I was skeptical when my partner bought it, but it totally works. Rub on your hands under cold water and it's like you never even looked at the garlic.
These are mostly a myth to my understanding.
There is some theory on how the chromium in stainless steel could help with breaking down and removing the smelly compounds from onions and garlic off your hands, but there aren't any studies proving this.
In my experience just properly washing your hands with water for 15-20s works just as well. I think the "soap" kinda works because it tricks people to not just rinse their hands.
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Tesa outdoor double sided tape.
That stuff is basically magic. It will stick anything to everything and you can remove it from almost any surface without leaving a mark. I used to stick a dashcam to my car window, a birdbath to my brick wall, a remote LED lamp to the ceiling (felt iffy, works great!). It's even holding a metal plate from the doorknob in place because the door is more hole than wood by now.
It beats basically every other kind of tape of multipurpose glue, and it's removable. It's kinda thick though, so you might see it, but that's also a feature when sticking rough textures to eachother.
